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The impact of immigration policies on the U.S. economy

Another point in favor of an immigration reform

courtesy Bard College

by Brenda Colón Navar

January 25 2013

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In recent studies conducted by several universities, it showed the impact of the immigration policy on the U.S. economy, in which every year immigrant students who graduate from universities in areas such as science and technology, are forced to leave the country or are deported because their temporary visa expires. As a result, the investment that was made in their education does not lead to employment.

It is expected that in President Obama’s second term in office, there can finally be a solution that will allow these individuals to permanently stay in the country legally, so that these minds work towards the recovery of the U.S. economy.

It is estimated that college graduates with degrees in science, math, technology and engineering can create at least three jobs since research projects usually involve an entire team.

According to a report from Duke and Harvard University, it revealed that companies created between 1995 and 2005, at least a quarter of them involved an immigrant in its foundation, and that about 450,000 jobs were created that generated a revenue of about 52 billion dollars.

It is estimated that out of all the companies in the Forbes 500, among which Ebay, Yahoo and Google are towards the top of the list, 18% of these companies had immigrant founders who generated 3.6 million jobs and earnings of up to 1.7 trillion dollars in 2011.

If an immigration reform is approved, these individuals would not only generate jobs and revenue, but also contribute in paying taxes.